Of Baseball and Church : Baseball Reflections

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Of Baseball and Church

Peter Schiller | Apr 04, 2008 | Comments 5

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Last night I read an article in World Magazine called, “Grinch in the press box: Baseball: Peanuts, popcorn, and proselytizing” by Marvin Olasky. The article is about New York Times sportswriter Murray Chass and his crusade “against voluntary Baseball Chapel services in major league locker rooms on Sunday mornings.” To read more, click on the link above or you can either send me an e-mail or make your request in the comments section & I’ll e-mail it to you.

What are my thoughts, you might ask? Well I’ll answer it by asking a question of my own. Who’s it hurting and why is Mr. Chass so bothered by it? Is he an atheist? Did he get burned by the church at some time in his life? If anyone has any more details about this please let me know, but for now, I’ll just share my thoughts.

With the whole steroids era talk going on right now, isn’t the idea of players going to a team chapel on Sunday mornings a good thing? As a father of young children who love the game of baseball I think that it’s great! If kids are going to look up to some of these players, I want to point them to the example of these men, some of whom take every chance they get to share their faith. Whether it’s in the way of charitable work done without all of the media hoopla, or mentioning their faith during interviews, etc. I respect that in those players that I see or hear it about. Then there’s the whole Josh Hamilton story which speaks volumes. I won’t get into it here, but you can google it to find out more, I’m sure. It’s amazing that he’s even still in baseball.

After all, the article does say that these chapels are voluntary, doesn’t it? I really do not understand what Mr. Chass’ problem is with this practice. I suppose he doesn’t like it when football players kneel down to pray at mid-field before or after a big game or right before a game altering, last second kick or when players, in any sport, do the sign of the cross when they score a TD, hit a HR, score a goal or make an important shot. Really, who does it hurt? If you take this away from the players, then you’re taking away their right of religious freedom as well; and that is a big part of what this country was founded upon. Somehow, Mr. Chass has forgotten our national foundations of religious freedom.

In closing, these men have a God-given talent to play the game of baseball for a living, let them show their respects by attending these chapel meetings without persecution or “crusades against them”.

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